Thursday marks seven months since a major earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan. The death toll is expected to reach 339 as the number of deaths from post-disaster causes is rising.
A total of 299 people have been confirmed dead in the prefecture after the magnitude 7.6 earthquake jolted the peninsula on New Year’s Day. Three remain missing.
The deaths include 70 people who died after falling ill due to post-disaster causes, including fatigue and psychological stress.
Authorities have been asked to recognize another 40 deaths as being from post-disaster causes. If they are recognized, the total death toll would rise to 339.
The number of people still living in shelters in Ishikawa stood at 1,422 as of Tuesday.
Of them, 705 evacuees were at lodging facilities such as hotels and inns. But the Ishikawa prefectural government says that in principle, those evacuees can stay at those facilities only until the end of August.
The local government says that if some people are unable to leave the places by the deadline for a certain reason, it will decide what to do on a case-by-case basis.
The Ishikawa government estimates that 6,804 temporary housing units are needed to accommodate evacuees, and about 90 percent of them are planned to be completed by the end of August. But some are expected to be ready only in November.